Zuri's nose wrinkles slightly as Rain hauls up one of the bodies. She edges towards the new passageway, peering down it and saying quietly, "Do we really think the missing couple made it this far?"
If someone responds urging everyone onwards, Zuri will shrug her shoulders delicately before heading down the pathway.

Panting somewhat with the effort removing the heaviest out of the mud, Rain takes a moment to compose herself and answers Zuri's question before plunging back in, "I'm not prepared to give up just yet. I hate to say it, but we must trust that their luck, or better, their skill held."

Perception: 1d20+5=6 Oblivious!
Streetwise + Knack for Success: 1d20+9+4=32 BAM! I used Knack because I really wanted to get this one... turns out I would have had it with just the d20 roll...

"I am relieved zat is is not ze youngk ones we seek buried here, but it is worrisome zat ze other party sent to find zem did not fare well. Also with zem were two warriors, twin brothers - Hamish and Argus. Perhaps if we keep goingk we find zem, and with their help, find success." Sabynha didn't pay much attention as she helped the others with the excavating. Her mind was on the fate of the other party. She continued to ponder on it as she cleaned off her buckler after the digging.

Rather than re-attaching it to her belt, she decided to keep it on her arm, and kept a dagger in that hand, hidden behind it, just in case.

Zuri's nose wrinkles slightly as Rain hauls up one of the bodies. She edges towards the new passageway, peering down it and saying quietly, "Do we really think the missing couple made it this far?"
If someone responds urging everyone onwards, Zuri will shrug her shoulders delicately before heading down the pathway.

OOC:

Zuri uses one surge to get back to full - now at 5/7 surges used.

OOC:

Does that mean 2 remaining? Like HPs people seem to calculate it differently. Glad to see you are back!

'I am a predator...the predator improves the race...I kill but not out of hate.' Frank Herbert: Emperor God of Dune

When the group have finished laying out the corpses a safe distance from the violent pools of living mud, and gathering up those objects that remain still in tact and are deemed worthwhile taking, they continue their journey deeper into the cave complex taking the southern tunnel which curves and begins to slope gradually upwards.

GM:

If you are taking anything please make note of it in your next post.

What light source is the group using?

The course the tunnel follows is long and wild through the darkness. You are glad that there are no intersections as you sense otherwise it would be easy to become completely lost. At one point a stream carves a channel in the middle of the passage, the water reflecting light as if the surface is crystal rather than liquid.

Soon, the cave walls begin to behave in a similar way, almost as if tiny stars were embedded in them.

Dungeoneering (DC 8)

Clusters of crystal appear in increasing size and abundance in the cave walls. The "stars" on the walls are reflections in the crystals.

After the group has discovered the small treasure trove of mundane and magical items, Gray grabs the tallow-capped wooden clubs and a set of sparkers. Seeing that the group was a bit low on light at the moment, and since unlike the others, he didn't need to wield a weapon, Gray decided it would be best if he were the holder of torches. He swung one about in the air, and deciding it was not worthy or balanced enough to serve as a weapon for his style of fighting, he raked a piece of steel across a piece of flint rock. Gray's face glowed momentarily as each friction causing strike created electrical and heat energies in the form of a spark. After a few unsuccessful tries, Gray finally managed to land a few of these sparks on the top of his torch, which smoked slightly, and then fully lit, emitting a non insignificant amount of light and heat.

As they walk throughout the tunnel complex, Gray notices the increasing amount of "stars" in the walls. Unfortunately, Gray isn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box
and as such, isn't really sure what to make of it other than to say "The wall stars are pretty!" as they walk along. However, though he was rather enamored of the shiny crystal surfaces, he was slightly wary of how much of them were appearing on the walls, and worried that it might be some other form of rock monster. And why not...they had just faced creatures made of mud, so why not crystal, too?

Hearing the voices come from the crystals in the chamber ahead of them all but confirmed Grays suspicions in his mind, and he switched from walking normally, to gliding on the balls of his feet, ready to pounce, dodge, or run away as the situation demanded and permitted.

Sabynha, still "holding" the gem that Wat tossed her way, doesn't take anything else shiny from the dead, tempting though the ring was. She could see that Zuri was eyeing it. She was fairly certain that the elven rogue would have no use for a second set of thieves' tools however, nor would any of her other companions likely want them, so she secured them away in one of her sashes. She was not astoundingly good at using them, but she was a fast learner and deft with her hands.

She also scooped up the bag of sling stones, and used a spare sash to fashion a sling. Too often so far has an opponent been out of her reach. Her thoughts flashed back to earlier, when they'd been ensnared by the xivort nets. She felt so helpless...

OOC:

If anyone has need of the things she grabbed, just say so. If you act it out in character she will gladly yield them to your character.

checks

Perception: 1d20+5=25 Of all times to roll 20...
Dungeoneering: 1d20+5=18Not enough for a Hard DC, but easily beats medium, if there is anything else about the rocks...

As the companions walked through the tunnels, and the "stars" began to appear, Sabynha became lost in their beauty. "It's so beautiful," she whispered.

Once the singing voices started, she listened intently to them, trying to remember their song. She let the music envelop her, but rather than distract, it only sharpened her awareness in the deep dark of the caves.